A good attendance of members last Thursday including those who had been on leave for a while – Bev Heron, Elaine Ruis and Denis White. Also present were Anne Blewden and guest speaker, Tania Jones. President Robyn welcomed everyone.
Guest Speaker – Tania Jones, The Home Kitchen 
Bob Teal introduced Tania Jones who would talk about her initiative The Home Kitchen under the theme “All you need is Love”.
Tania, who is Welsh by birth explained what motivated her to start up The Home Kitchen offering vegetarian/vegan menus. After working in the corporate world she volunteered for five weeks in a refugee camp. There were two main camps where over 6,000 refugees were living. She asked herself the question “What can one person actually do?” but found that one person could certainly contribute significantly to the whole. The images she showed of a huge pile of life jackets left on Eftalou Beach by people who arrived as refugees was sobering. Tania explained how people were helped in the refugee camps but even with this help some did die. She saw the worst and best of humanity while there. She noted that one person at a camp was replaced every two seconds. Language and employment opportunities were the greatest barriers.
After her time at the camp she asked herself another question “What kind of world do I want to live in?” She had worked in the corporate world but after her 5-week experience she wanted to help humanity. Her vision was to change lives through the celebration of food and culture. So she established the Home Kitchen which is a social enterprise and a not-for-profit organisation. She wanted to employ and train 15-25 refugees and support and partner with local and ethnic suppliers.
Through a fundraising campaign and sponsorship the Home Kitchen opened in March 2019. It is based in an existing café and operates in the evening outside the café’s normal operating hours. The enterprise is run by a Trust, membership of which includes some refugees. They offer restaurant evenings and cooking classes and nine staff are employed. Their customer base is around 500+. So what’s next? They are looking for shared spaces from which to operate and looking for their own commercial kitchen. They are planning to offer a variation in the meal kits and will try other restaurants in other towns – including those that offer meat. Tania was a dynamic and inspiring speaker and her ideals certainly aligned to the four-way test.
Following Tania’s presentation and notices, all present enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by The Home Kitchen. A special thanks to Tania and her team .
Notices
Garden Festival – volunteers needed to distribute flyers and posters
Carey Church reminded members that the Garden Festival on 24 November was just 7 weeks away. Half of the tickets have been sold so far but promotion is essential. Carey is looking for volunteers for the delivery of flyers and posters on the “Findit” routes from 17 October – 8 November. The distribution is both in the Cambridge area and other towns. Please contact Carey if you can help.
Firewood project
Ken Leatham advised that 6 loads of firewood had been delivered to Tamahere. There is still more to be sold and Ken asked people to promote the firewood availability amongst friends, neighbours etc. In addition more work needs to be done to split logs. Please see Ken if you can help or know of potential buyers.
Informal Rotary meeting – 10 October
Next meeting (10 October) will be the first of our new “informal” meetings. Light snack (eg pizza) will be available and members will be charged $5 to their accounts. Remember you still need to apologise if you are unable to attend. St John will be demonstrating and training on the correct use of a defibrillator.
Movie night fundraiser – World Polio Day – 24 October
We have been able to secure a movie on its New Zealand Premiere night at the Tivoli Cambridge. The movie is "Ride Like A Girl" and is the story of the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. She was the youngest of 11 children whose mother died when she was just 6 months old. Her father, played by Sam Neill, was a horse trainer but managed to raise the family on his own. You will find the story quite emotional. So, bring your friends along and have a great night out.
The movie will start at 8pm, but we will have the use of the private lounge downstairs for drinks beforehand. This is a highly recommended movie, and you will be supporting PolioPlus at the same time.
There will be no Rotary meeting that week.
Details
Date: Thursday 24 October
Time: 7.30 for 8pm
Price: $22 per person
Payment: Members and partners etc. will be charged to your account
Visitors: payment at the door but must be booked by 11 October
Window display – World Polio Day
Days for Girls – National Raffle
Tickets for a national raffle to support Days for Girls were available on Thursday and will also be available next Rotary meeting – 10 October. $2 per ticket or $20 for a book. Anne Blewden also has them.
Members in hospital
Bill MacMillan, Colin Davis and Keith Rogers are all in hospital. Our thoughts are with them for a speedy recovery.
Bookarama – 2020 – 3-10 May
Please note – books are not yet able to be left at Achievement House as they currently do not have enough room – so no books are to be taken there until December.
Raffle Winners
Congratulations to Greg Gascoigne and David Smith – raffle winners.
9930 District News
The Rotary Learning and Information Workshop – 19 and 20 October
The Rotary Learning and Information Workshop at Rotary Hall Taradale on 19 and 20 October - 9 am to 4 pm. You may participate in Day One or Day Two but to attend Day Two you have had to completed Day One. This workshop is particularly valuable for newer members and provides an opportunity to network with other Rotarians. You can register by clicking here Click this link to register 
